MLB's Replay System Is Now A Huge Money-Maker For The Owners

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Most baseball fans rejoiced when they found out Major League Baseball was going to expand its replay system this season. What the fans probably didn't realize was that MLB would turn the replay system into a gigantic sponsorship opportunity.

As anyone who has watched baseball recently probably knows, MLB replay is sponsored by Samsung. The partnership includes a proliferation of corporate logos in places that were heretofore clean of ads. It also may also be subtly influencing what umpires do during the replay process (keep those logos visible!) and how MLB's own writers are covering the sport.

The visibility of the replay sponsorship increased after this year's All-Star break, when umpire assistants during replay reviews started wearing hats and shirts with the Samsung logo.

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Replays are also now explicitly "presented by Samsung," both on the field and heard during broadcasts.

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Even MLB's official Twitter page covering instances of replay review has been renamed "Samsung Replay." Much like your favorite team selling the naming rights to their stadium, MLB has sold the naming rights to an important part of the game itself.

Twitter.com/mlbreplays

Clearly, corporate sponsorships have become a huge revenue stream for MLB, and that is great for the sport. But there is also the potential for the partnerships to affect more than attire, billboards, and on-screen graphics. The corporate partnership on the replays, for example, might actually now be influencing how umpires comport themselves during the replay process and the coverage of baseball in general.

During one replay review with the Tampa Bay Rays facing the Los Angeles Angels, for example, an umpire appeared to notice on the stadium's screen that the replay assistant wasn't visible to the fans at the game or the audience watching on television. He then moved the assistant to a spot where the Samsung logo was visible.

A spokesperson for Major League Baseball says that umpires have not received any special instructions on how to handle the visibility of the Samsung logo during replays.

Then there is the unusually large number of stories being written by beat writers at MLB.com about umpire reviews during games. The writers cover every instance of replay review during games.

MLB.com

An MLB spokesperson told Business Insider this was simply an editorial decision based on the interest in the expanded replay system early in the season and that it might look odd if they cut back later in the season despite less fan interest.

But it's also another sponsorship opportunity!

Every replay story we could locate came with multiple ads for Samsung.

MLB.com

Corporate sponsorships are becoming ever more intertwined in professional sports—a trend that is not sitting well with some fans.. Many basketball fans, for example, are outraged at the idea of the NBA putting ads on the teams' uniforms. And the replay system in MLB shows that professional sports leagues are still finding other, creative ways to put the logos of corporate sponsors on to the field of play and on our televisions, computers, and mobile devices.

If you hate the proliferation of corporate logos in sports, be warned. It won't be long before everything in sports is "presented by" somebody.